Thus, in order to avoid major debugging costs on site, it has become essential, prior to putting an industrial installation into operation under the control of an automatic controller, to test the controller for proper operation, regardless of whether it is implemented as hard-wired logic, or as programmed logic of the industrial programmable controller type.
A known method of testing the validity of an automatic controller consists in connecting said controller to a simulator which accurately reproduces the process of the industrial installation, such that the inputs of one are in communication with the outputs of the other, and vice versa.
The process simulation method used by such simulators, which are usually systems based on computer means, consists in handling time delays which are triggered on the simulator receiving a command emitted by the controller. Each time a time delay comes to an end, which corresponds in reality to a sensor in the industrial installation changing state, the simulator informs the controller about the state of the process. The industrial process is thus simulated in real time.
The major drawback of such a simulation method lies in the time wasted while waiting for a time delay to come to its end: the slower the simulated process, the greater the amount of time wasted.
The main object of the present invention is thus to provide a method of simulating a process, which method can be implemented automatically, and eliminates such time wasting, while nevertheless taking account of the real time in which the process takes place.